Ghostly Hearts
by Remasa
Summary: An arson attack destroys the Agreste manor, spiraling Gabriel into a deep depression. Adrien and Marinette realize in order to save Gabriel from himself, they must clear his name off the suspect list. Between schoolwork, sneaking out to investigate, increasingly powerful akuma attacks, and their budding feelings to contend with, the two find time running out faster than expected.


**_Ghostly Hearts_**

_This story was conceived prior to season 2, and therefore some things are different._

_1) Emilie Agreste is not below the Agreste manor. She is still missing._

_2) The stairs leading to the apartment of the Dupain-Chengs also lead to another apartment behind it. The Dupain-Chengs' door is to the right, the other apartment is to the left._

_I'm sure I'll add more as things come up during the story. I'll try to keep it as close to canon compliant as possible, but these two things are different._

* * *

_Chapter 1_

Adrien awoke with a start, bolting upright in his bed. He blinked, his eyes having trouble adjusting to the dark.

Silence.

Once his eyes acclimated to the darkness, he glanced around his room. Nothing moved.

So what woke him?

"Hello?" he offered in the darkness. Was someone in his room? The moment the thought entered his mind, the hairs on the back of his arm rose. Maybe he shouldn't have announced his presence. Too late now. "Is anyone there?"

More silence.

It was disconcerting and did nothing to ease Adrien's nerves.

"What is it, Adrien?" the sleepy voice of Plagg startled him.

"Somethings wrong," Adrien blurted out. "I don't know what, though. I'm... something woke me up. I feel it. It's eerie."

Plagg floated up from where he had been curled up against his pillow. The kwami's eyes narrowed and the lazy sleep expression immediately vanished.

"Smoke," he declared.

Now that Plagg mentioned it, Adrien realized he _could_ smell something burning.

"Akuma?" Adrien asked, tossing aside his covers.

"Maybe," Plagg replied. He looked toward the window. Adrien followed his gaze and spotted an orange glow outside his window. His heart plummeted to his feet as he raced over to peer out.

Was Paris on fire?

"Careful, Adrien!" Plagg admonished.

"The house!" Adrien cried, realizing the source of the inferno. Flames licked the outside of the window, heating up the panes. He backed away as the temperature rose to an uncomfortable level. "I don't think this is an akuma, Plagg. I need to get out of here!"

He raced over to the door and tore it open.

Big mistake.

A wall of fire roared up, the heat slapping him in the face. He stumbled back under the force of it, instinct guiding him to throw his arms up as a shield.

"Close the door!" Plagg cried.

Adrien slammed his door shut and turned to survey the room, wishing for the first time he had his Lady's incredible gift of getting through a situation.

His eyes settled upon his bedspread. He ran over, barely stopping his strides as he approached. One swift yank whisked it off the bed. He darted into the bathroom. Plagg floated nearby. Adrien twisted the shower taps on full blast and shoved the blanket under the gushing water. In seconds, water thoroughly soaked the bedspread. He stepped under the waterfall for extra protection, too. Soon enough, he emerged as sopping wet as the blanket. A twirl worthy of a matador settled the blanket over his head. Time to face the flames. He inhaled one final clean breath and wrenched open the door. He just had to make it to the front door. Just a few steps.

"Plagg, should I transform?" he wheezed, coughing as the smoke stung his eyes and burned his throat.

"Only if absolutely necessary," the black kwami advised. "I don't want anyone to see Chat Noir running from your home. That might be difficult to explain if people start to pry deeper."

Knowing his kwami was correct and that they couldn't afford to waste anymore time, Adrien squared his shoulders and ducked into hallway, crouching as low as possible to avoid the billowing smoke. The fire reached the stairs. Down was no longer a viable option.

"Have to go up to the roof," Adrien choked out, coughing once again on the acrid smoke that rapidly poured into the space.

"Hurry!" Plagg urged.

Adrien darted up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time, propelled by adrenaline. He reached the upper window as a shattering sound cut through the roar of the flames.

"The windows downstairs," Plagg explained, spotting Adrien's puzzled frown.

The boy paled. Adrien turned back to the window, heaving it upward and hauling one leg over the sill before he paused.

"My father!" he gasped in horror. Nathalie and the Gorilla retired to their respective homes, as did the rest of the house staff. Gabriel, however, slept in his room on the second floor.

"Kid, it's too dangerous," Plagg warned.

Adrien ignored his concerns. "Plagg, Claws Out!"

In seconds, Chat Noir barreled through the hallway, vaulting over fallen beams and missing sections of floor.

"Cataclysm!" he cried, slamming his hand against Gabriel's bedroom door. It disintegrated as he smashed through, scanning the room for his father.

The bed lay empty, though the rumpled covers tossed aside indicated someone recently occupied it. So where was his father?

Chat darted back out of the room and leaned against the railing, scanning over the flames. His heart nearly froze when he spotted an unconscious lump in the far end of the foyer – right on the way to Adrien's room.

Gabriel must have tried to get to him before the smoke and flames overwhelmed him – a line of which rapidly approached the prone figure.

"Father!" Chat screamed. He hopped over the banister without a second thought and landed neatly beside Gabriel. He flung the still-wet blanket over his father and heaved him up, slinging the tall man across his shoulders like he weighed nothing.

A quick pole extension propelled him back to the upper levels. Chat raced over to the open window and leaped out. Safely on the roof, he gulped in several breaths of cool, clean air. He dropped the blanket over the side of the house, planning ahead for his own alibi. Then, he vaulted off the roof and landed among a small crowd of people now forming.

"Anyone a doctor?" he cried, laying Gabriel on his back upon the ground with delicate tenderness. Sirens filled the air.

"I'm trained in first aid," someone spoke up, pushing forward through the people. "I'll stabilize him until paramedics arrive." Gabriel stirred beneath his hands with a groan.

With a wan smile, Chat bounded away, landing behind his house. After a brief glance around to ensure privacy, he released his transformation. Plagg spiraled out of his ring and flew into his hands. Adrien whispered a small promise of "later" to his kwami, who nodded and flashed him a weak smile of encouragement before hiding inside his pajama shirt. Adrien picked up the soggy blanket and, with a reluctant grimace, tugged it over his shoulders. Now safe from the heat of the fire, the cold spring air chilled his damp body.

Outside of his superhero suit, every choked breath and adrenaline-fueled action slammed into him like a train. He staggered from sheer exhaustion, bracing himself against the exterior wall for support. He stood there for a moment, trying to compose himself, watching his home burn with a strange feeling of empty loss.

"Adrien, you should go check on your father," Plagg's soft voice snapped him back to the present. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak (and not knowing if he even could with how sore his throat felt).

He slowly stumbled his way around the corner. More people had gathered. The fire brigade and paramedics had also reached the front gates. One group busied themselves attempting to douse the fire as fast as possible while the other group... restrained his father?

"Sir, you can't go back in there," one shouted, struggling to hold the lanky designer back. Gabriel ignored him, clawing at the man to escape.

"Adrien!" he bellowed. "Adrien is still in there! Let me go!" The crazed look of desperate anguish in his father's eyes stole Adrien's breath away.

"Sir," the paramedic cried. "it's too dangerous!"

"Adrien!" His father's unrelenting screams of devastation sliced Adrien to his very core. He gulped and stepped forward, clutching the blanket tighter around his shoulders with shaking hands.

"Father?"

It took a second for his voice to cut through Gabriel's panic, but when it did, his father snapped his head around so fast Adrien wondered if the man might pass out again.

"Adrien?" he whispered. The paramedics released his arms and in an instant, Gabriel knelt beside him, squeezing him into a bone-crushing hug. Murmurs of "you're okay" and "you're alive" repeated over and over as Gabriel twined his long fingers into Adrien's hair and tightened his grip across his back. Adrien returned the hug, breathing in the smell of smoke along with the comforting scent of his father – lingering cologne and soap and the combination of which that belonged uniquely to his father. Adrien closed his eyes and let his senses overwhelm him, for once not caring about anything else.

Not the fact that he stood in the chilly air in soaking wet pajamas.

Not the fact his home burned beyond recognition.

Not the fact that he and his father almost died.

That would come later, he was sure, but for now he just stood there, heaving in gulps of clean air with his father as they clung to one another.

They only had each other now.

"I thought you were still inside," Gabriel said at last, pulling away with a suspiciously tearful expression. "I thought... I had lost you, too." His voice cracked at the end, whether from emotion or smoke inhalation Adrien didn't know.

He blinked up at his father. "I climbed upstairs to the roof," he explained, his voice raw and raspy from the smoke. "The fire blocked the windows in my room. I grabbed my blanket and ran it under the shower to get wet. And myself, too." He motioned to his blanket and as a stiff wind blew, shivered.

Gabriel guided him over to the medics, who wrapped heavy blankets around their shoulders and fitted them each with an oxygen mask. Adrien sighed as his body reveled in the warmth and fresh air.

"On the roof, I couldn't get down," Adrien continued, the oxygen clearing his head and allowing him time to formulate a decent cover story. "I saw Chat Noir patrolling and he must have seen the fire. He carried me down behind the house before going back inside for you."

His father's face flashed with surprise and something else Adrien couldn't identify. "I'm glad you're safe," he repeated, drawing Adrien into another tight hug.

The paramedics finished their initial preparations and quickly hauled the two of them off to the hospital. Since they had nowhere to stay, neither Adrien nor Gabriel (to Adrien's surprise) complained too loudly when they were informed they had to remain overnight for observation.

Adrien asked for some cheese (for Plagg) – a request which obviously puzzled Gabriel but he kept quiet – and soon fell into a deep slumber, his body weary with exhaustion.

* * *

_**Author's Note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PERDITA!**_

_This story is still a WIP but I promise you readers it will be finished. I have had the idea and outline to this story for years and Perdita keeps bugging me to finally write it._

_An amazing and awesome thank you to **SinfulPapillon** for designing the cover art for this! Check out their tumblr at sorastimeoutcorner for more of their work!_

_Sincere and special thank you to **Tempomental** and **RoseGardenTwilight** for beta help with the summary!_

_And finally, check me out on Tumblr under **goblin-alchemist**!_


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